Italy proposes policy changes: New FiT looms

Earlier this month, the two main bodies in the Italian renewable energy world, Gruppo Imprese Fotovoltaiche Italiane (GIFI), the Italian Photovoltaic Association, and Federazione Nazionale Imprese Elettrotecniche ed Elettroniche (ANIE), proposed a new set of Feed in Tariffs (FiT) for Italy, which are planned for 2011, according to a Barclays Solar report.

Adding to the list of countries that have recently made changes to PV incentive proposals, Italy has made the decision to lower the FiT rate depending on system size and type. The new proposal separates installations into two segments: Ground Mounted and Rooftop.

Within these two segments, installations are separated into five different categories depending on system size. The proposal lowers FiTs between 5% for the smallest installations and 30% for the largest installations.

The proposal states that the installations for the smallest rooftop and ground-mounted systems (ranging from 1-6kWp) would decline 5% vs 2010 feed in tariffs. For projects ranging from 6-20kWp, tariffs would decline by 7% from 2010 levels, and for 20-200kWp, tariffs would decline by 14%. Ground mounted systems tariffs for projects 200kWp to 1MW would decline by 16% while tariffs for rooftop projects would decline by 22.5%. For projects greater than 1MW, tariffs for ground mounted projects would decline by 30% while tariffs for rooftop projects would decline by 27% from 2010 feed in tariffs.

Similarly to France, Italy is placing emphasis on built in PV, as tariffs for BIPV systems are proposed to be 25% more than a non-BIPV equivalent project. A bonus is also proposed for projects located in non-ideal locations such as landfills. For these projects subsidies are proposed to be +10% of the project equivalent.

The proposal also includes a 5% annual reduction for the years 2012 to 2015, with a cap of 7GW of installations between 2011 and 2015. Under the proposal the FiT will be guaranteed for 20 years.

Looking back, 2014 was a year of convalescence for a PV industry still battered and bruised from a period of ferocious competition. End-market demand continued apace, with analysts towards the end of 2014 predicting the year would see between around 45 and 50GW of deployment. That has begun to feed through to the supplier end of the market, with all the main manufacturers announcing capacity expansions in 2015 and further ahead.

Although the past few years have proved extremely testing for PV equipment manufacturers, falling module prices have driven solar end-market demand to previously unseen levels. That demand is now starting to be felt by manufacturers, to the extent that leading companies are starting to talk about serious capacity expansions later this year and into 2015. This means that the next 12 months will be a critical period if companies throughout the supply chain are to take full advantage of the PV industry’s next growth phase.